Differences between Effectiveness and Efficiency

Effectiveness and efficiency are two mutually exclusive terms. If one is present, the other may not be present and vice-versa. There are some major differences between them which is must for all of us to know as it is useful in our professional as well as personal life:

Effectiveness	Efficiency
Effectiveness is about accomplishing a task or producing a desired result	Efficiency is about performing a task in a best possible manner
It focuses on achieving the objective	It focuses on maximum result with least time and effort
Being effective means doing the right things	Being efficient means doing things in right manner
Effectiveness focuses on producing the result	Efficiency focuses on completing task using minimum time, effort and resources
Higher quality result can be expected from an effective person	Quick and intelligent work can be expected from an efficient person
Effectiveness is primarily concerned about results, not use of resources	Efficiency is primarily concerned on the use of time, energy and resources, not necessarily the results
It is not process and time oriented	It is process and time oriented
It looks at whether the something is done or not	It looks at how the activity is done
Effectiveness has no/less economic sense	Efficiency has higher economic sense
Effectiveness is the end result	Efficiency looks at the process/means of doing a task
It is result oriented	It is yield oriented
Effectiveness has long run perspective. It is used to achieve sustainable growth and long term profits	Efficiency has short run perspective. It is used to achieve short term goals
Here, the effectiveness of strategies are measured	It is measured in operations of the organization
Effectiveness can be considered as an extroverted approach as it is measured between one or more organizations	Efficiency can be considered as an introvert approach as it measures the performance issues (cost, time and resources) within the organization
It refers to the usefulness of a thing	It refers to the way in which something is done
Being effective means producing better and higher degree of success	Being efficient means, there is minimum waste, expenses and unnecessary effort
Effectiveness does not look at input to output ratio	Efficiency looks at input to output ratio
Effectiveness in a work/organization should come first	Efficiency should be followed by effectiveness
Being effective means being on the right track with regard to the objective	Being efficient may not necessarily mean being on the right track with regard to the objective